The Error of Our Ways
by Mike Paterno
Summary: Gary reads in The Paper that a despised Middle Eastern dictator will be assassinated in a military coup. After weighing most of the possibilities, he decides not to warn anyone who could stop it from happening.


THE ERROR OF OUR WAYS  
  
By Mike Paterno  
  
Disclaimer: Early Edition, it's situations and characters are the sole property of CBS Productions and Columbia/Tri-Star Television. This fanfic is meant for entertainment purposes only; no infringement is intended and no profit is being made.  
  
Rating: PG-13  
  
Summary: Gary reads in The Paper that a despised Middle Eastern dictator will be assassinated in a military coup. After weighing most of the possibilities, he decides not to warn anyone who could stop it from happening. A few days later, after the assassination has taken place, the murdered dictator's country is plunged into a bloody civil war, which results in the deaths of thousands of innocent civilians. Gary realizes the civil war may have been avoided if he had acted on the story and questions his worthiness of receiving The Paper.  
  
Author's notes: Two important things to note. First, this very short story is somewhat dark and filled with angst, so for those who dislike seeing Gary agonize over making a mistake, this fanfic might be something that you want to avoid. Second, a word of warning: This story does have an ending that may upset some readers.  
  
CHAPTER ONE  
  
Gary woke up to the very familiar noise of the cat's meowing and the plop of The Paper outside the front door of his loft. Gradually crawling out of bed, he slowly made his way over to the source of the sounds, let in the hungry feline and picked The Paper up off the floor. Walking into the kitchen, he selected a can of cat food from a shelf with one hand while clutching the folded newspaper with his other. Stopping for just a moment to wipe the sleep out of his eyes, he then placed The Paper on his kitchen table and opened the can of cat food as the cat rubbed against his bare legs.  
  
"You seem hungrier than usual, buddy," said Gary as he placed the cat's dish on the floor, "All you ever do is eat and bring me trouble. I wish I had your life, ya know, having someone feed me everyday!"  
  
He looked down as the cat ate and chuckled, "All you are is just a big freeloader. One of these days you'd better find a way of paying for your own food!" After turning on his coffee pot, he left the cat eating in the kitchen and went into the bathroom to take a shower.  
  
Having finished his shower and gotten dressed, Gary poured himself a cup of coffee and proceeded reading The Paper. The first thing he noticed was the front-page headline reporting the assassination of President Dassam of Qari in a military coup. Dassam was a bloodthirsty dictator who had allegedly ordered the murders of countless innocent civilians and was involved in trying to undermine the stable governments in neighboring Middle Eastern countries. Gary normally wouldn't bother with international saves unless it directly affected Chicago or it was a major disaster where people would be killed. A dictator like Dassam, he thought, deserves this fate, but on the other hand, a human life *is* a human life and maybe he should think about calling the State Department or maybe even the U.N.  
  
As he sipped his coffee and gradually looked through the rest of The Paper, Gary continued to think about what he should do regarding President Dassam's death. "If I do prevent his assassination," he told the cat, "He'll just continue murdering his own people and might even cause a war. This guy's bad news and maybe I'm supposed to do nothing and let his death happen."  
  
The cat looked up at Gary, "Meoww!"  
  
He raised his brow, "I guess that means it's my decision to make, huh, buddy?"  
  
"Rowwrr."  
  
Gary glanced at his watch, "The assassination happens in five hours and I have three saves in Chicago that I need to take care of first, so let me think on it a little, okay?"  
  
"Meoww."  
  
*************  
  
Gary made his first save that morning at a mosque on Chicago's west side. A man leaving the mosque after morning prayers would have been viciously attacked by an unknown assailant and left to die, but Gary got there in time and prevented a knife wielding man from completing his assault.  
  
"Th-thank y-you much," the would be victim said in heavy accented English, "I don't know how I say more in your language, so, may Allah be with you always."  
  
Gary slowly nodded his head and as the police took the attacker away, he looked at the story, which now appeared in place of the original one reporting the victim's death. Gary read that the attacker was a member of Qari's secret police who had illegally entered the U.S. and planned on killing the victim because he had spoken out publicly against Dassam's regime. At that moment, the decision Gary had pondered about was made. With Dassam dead and gone, it might be possible for dissidents such as the would be victim to claim back their country. He decided on letting the assassination take place and then left to go on to his next save.  
  
*************  
  
It had been a few days since Dassam's death and Gary had seen on TV the various different factions fighting for control of Qari. At first, the television news reporters had said the military would remain in control and defeat the opposition groups, but as time went on, it appeared that the Qari military was losing a three-way fight for control of the country.  
  
When he woke up that morning, his first thoughts were about the assassination that took place a few days before. The thought that perhaps he should have talked to Marissa and gotten her opinion instead of handling it himself, now weighed heavily on his mind. He probably would have done the same exact thing, it just would have been a bit easier on his conscience if he had mentioned it to her. Gary picked up The Paper and to his horror, saw a headline that gave him a sharp pain in the pit of his stomach: 'Over 10,000 Civilians Killed In Fighting For Control Of Qari'. He quickly read the story and saw that many of the dead civilians were children whose homes had been destroyed in the now expanding Qarian civil war.  
  
"I-I caused this....I caused all of that suffering! I made the wrong choice! What have I done?"  
  
------------- CHAPTER TWO  
  
After having re-read the story of the more than 10,000 civilian deaths, Gary carefully checked where and when the atrocities took place.  
  
"I can stop some of these deaths from happening," he shouted at the cat, "I just have to call the right authorities. I have to try! I have to stop this!"  
  
The sitting cat looked up at him with its head cocked to one side, silent to Gary's plea.  
  
"Who? Who do I call?"  
  
The cat, still silent, got up and slowly walked away.  
  
"Damn it, you stupid pile of fleas, come back here! I don't know who to call!" Gary anxiously rubbed the back of his neck trying to come up with an idea. He stopped suddenly when something finally came to him.  
  
"The U.N.! I'll call the U.N.! They have peacekeeping forces! They can send in some troops and save some of those people!"  
  
He quickly called information, getting the phone number for The U.N. headquarters in New York. His hands now clammy and sweat covered, he dialed the number and impatiently waited for someone to answer. A computerized voice gave him a menu of choices to select from and when it finally came to the category of Security Council questions, Gary pressed the number on his phone connecting him to it.  
  
After being switched from one office to another, he began losing his composure and demanded to speak to someone in authority. He was finally connected to a Security Council spokesman, who listened to Gary's impassioned plea to send ground forces into Qari as a way of saving civilians that were in danger.  
  
"We appreciate your heartfelt concern, Mr. Hobson," the spokesman told him, "But I'm afraid there's nothing we can do at this time. The situation in Qari, as grave as it is, is an internal matter concerning the government of Qari and until it represents a threat to the security of neighboring countries, there's nothing we can do about it. I'm afraid our hands are tied by international law."  
  
"But-but, what about the civilians? D-don't their lives matter?"  
  
"Mr. Hobson! I don't know where you received your information concerning atrocities towards civilians, but we've been carefully monitoring the situation and actions such as those have not occurred!"  
  
"That's because they haven't happened yet!" screamed Gary into the phone, "The deaths of the civilians don't start happening until later on today!"  
  
"Mr. Hobson! This is not a matter to be making false accusations about! Until you have some tangible proof, I'd suggest leaving this situation up to the U.N.! Good day, Mr. Hobson!" The spokesman hung up.  
  
"D-don't you hang up on....." Gary was flustered and shook his head, "Damn! What can I do? Even the U.N. won't listen!"  
  
The cat walked back over and looked up at him.  
  
Gary looked down at the cat and threw The Paper at it, "Take this damn thing and give it to someone else! I tried, don't ya see, I tried! But they wouldn't listen! I don't want the responsibility anymore! I can't handle it! You need to give it to someone who can fix this mess I caused! Thousands of people are gonna die because I made the wrong choice! This is all my fault! Don't let me make anymore mistakes!"  
  
*************  
  
Marissa entered McGinty's around eight thirty in the morning and made her way to the office. She could tell Gary hadn't been down from the loft yet as the chairs were still on top of the tables and the coffee wasn't made. She noticed that he had been acting strangely over the past few days and was very concerned about him. Marissa decided to go upstairs to the loft and find out what was troubling her best friend and business partner. Tapping her white cane on the wooden stairs that led to the loft, she finally made it to his front door and knocked.  
  
"Gary? Are you home?"  
  
The door opened and Gary asked her to come in.  
  
"This may be none of my business, Gary," she quietly asked, "But what's been bothering you for the past few days? I've been a little worried about you."  
  
"Marissa, I need...we need...uh...we really need to talk."  
  
-------------  
  
EPILOGUE  
  
"So," asked Marissa as she sat down in the chair next to Gary's sofa, "What's wrong, Gary? You know I've been concerned about the way you've been behaving over the past few days and now you tell me we really need to talk. *What* do we really need to talk about?"  
  
"You know how you always say that The Paper comes to me for a reason?"  
  
"Yes, and I really believe that and thought you did, too."  
  
Gary took a deep breath and then exhaled, "I-I'm not so sure of that anymore."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Marissa...ya see, I-I made a choice on a save a few days ago and it was, well...the wrong one. I should've said something to you about it, you know, gotten your input and advice, but I thought ....well I thought I could make the choice on my own....but because of my decision," he paused to rub his forehead, "Because of my decision, thousands are gonna die."  
  
"Gary! What are you talking about?" She was now even more concerned, "What do you mean thousands will die?"  
  
Gary tensed up, "I-I caused the civil war in Qari!" He cringed, "And today, The Paper says that over 10,000 civilians, mostly children, will be killed!"  
  
"How? How did you cause that civil war? That's impossible! The war started because of the assassination of President Dassam in a military..." Marissa suddenly paused in mid sentence, "Oh my God! You read about his assassination in The Paper and didn't try to stop it! That's why you've been acting so strangely for the past few days! You could've saved his life, but you chose not to!"  
  
"I-I thought that if I let him get killed in the coup, that things would be better in Qari! I didn't realize there'd be a civil war! You've got to believe me, Marissa, I didn't know this would happen!" He shook his head," And now, thousands are gonna die! This is the biggest mistake I've made since I started getting The Paper!  
  
Marissa was both shocked and angry at Gary's admission to her, "Gary! *You* don't have the right to play God! You don't have the right to decide who lives or dies! I don't know what you thought of him or his politics, but you still should've tried to save his life! Who knows? Maybe you wouldn't have been able to and things would've still turned out the same way!" She slammed her fist on the arm of the chair, "But maybe they wouldn't have and the civil war could have been avoided! You don't know any of that and now *you're* going to have to live with what *you* did...or should I say, didn't do!"  
  
After Marissa finished shouting, Gary glared at her with his mouth wide open and then got angry, "Who are you to tell me what I should or shouldn't do? Does The Paper come to you? Hell no! It comes to me!"  
  
He picked The Paper up off the floor where he had thrown it at the cat earlier, "At least it did! I don't want the damn thing anymore, ya understand? I don't want it! Maybe you want it! Do you?"  
  
"Gary...I-I didn't mean...."  
  
"You can have it!" Gary threw The Paper at Marissa.  
  
"Gary! Maybe you can try and warn the authorities about the civilian deaths! Maybe you can..."  
  
"Don't ya understand?" he interrupted, "I tried that already! The U.N. didn't care...and now maybe I don't either!" "You don't really mean that!"  
  
"Don't I, Marissa?" He quickly went over to his wardrobe, pulled out some clothes and threw them on the bed. Reaching under his bed, he grabbed a small suitcase and began to pack. "As far as I'm concerned, I'm through with The Paper!" He finished stuffing his clothes in the bag, "And you can have this damn bar! I don't want it anymore! I'm leavin' Chicago!"  
  
"G-Gary! Please, please calm down! I was out of line in what I said to you before! I shouldn't have....."  
  
"It's over, Marissa! If you care so much about that damn paper, you handle it! It might be a little difficult since you're blind, but what the hell? You never let that get in your way before, did you?"  
  
"That was uncalled for, Gary!" Marissa began having small tears run down her cheeks, "You need to stay and talk this out with me! You've never been one to run away!"  
  
"Well, maybe it's about time I did!" He picked up the suitcase and walked to the door, "Don't bother waiting for me to call and tell you where I am, 'cause I don't intend to!" While leaving the loft, Gary sarcastically yelled in her direction, "Have a good life!"  
  
"Gary?"  
  
*************  
  
Gary walked outside, took one last look at McGinty's and went to his jeep. After throwing in his suitcase and just before he climbed in, a familiar sound occurred.  
  
"Meowww!"  
  
Gary turned and faced the cat, but didn't look at The Paper now at its feet, "I don't want it! Can't you understand? I don't want it anymore! I don't give a damn what disasters or problems are in it, Cat! They no longer matter to me! Let's face it, I can't make the right choices! A lot of innocent people will die because of me and I don't want the responsibility anymore! The decision of *not* getting The Paper is mine! I'm not gonna have any more people die 'cause *I* make the wrong choices! Goodbye and good riddance!"  
  
Gary got into his jeep, started it up and sped off.  
  
The cat sat near The Paper, watching the jeep disappear as it drove away up Franklin Street. It made a faint meow and looked down at The Paper lying on the ground. On the front page was a picture of Marissa and a large headline that read: 'BLIND BAR OWNER MURDERED IN MORNING HOLDUP'.  
  
THE END? 


End file.
